Walking Away
by livyundead11
Summary: Daryl leaving with Merle was harder than anyone realized, mostly because of the woman passed out in the front seat of the Hyundai. Set during and after the Daryl/Merle rescue from Woodbury in season three. Oneshot. M for language. Daryl/OC.


**Author note: So this is my only Walking Dead fic. I've had this finished since right after season 3 ended but I didn't have the courage to put it out. Just a little one shot that I couldn't get out of my head.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead. All rights belong to AMC and Kirkman, obviously. OC Willow is mine though.**

"And what about Willow?" Rick asked him, eyes boring into him.

Daryl's eyes briefly flickered to the car, where the 'samurai' stood staring at the ground in a daze. He couldn't see her, Willow, from where he stood, but he knew she was there.

He always knew she was there.

His voice caught in his throat and he cleared it quickly, "What about her?" he replied with a tone he didn't recognize.

Out of his peripheral vision, Merle was getting up off the ground slowly. It wasn't the first time his older brother had been knocked unconscious, and this time was unlikely the last.

Daryl was running out of time and he could feel it in his gut.

When Glenn scoffed in reply to Daryl's question, he knew he hadn't hid his feelings nearly as well as he had thought.

Did everyone know?

Judging by Rick's face, and Maggie's unwillingness to meet Daryl's eyes, he knew the answer.

"She'll understand," Daryl said quietly, staring at the car as he muttered it. He couldn't draw his eyes away from it.

Willow had been injured in the attack at Woodbury.

_'Go!' He shouted at her as they ducked behind a barricade. 'Get out of here! I'll lay down cover fire! I'll be right behind you!'_

_'I'll go when you go!' she shouted back, not meeting his gaze as her head popped over the barricade to return fire.'I'm not leaving you!'_

_Daryl broke his stare from her to look behind him, only to see Oscar fall in the distance._

_'Fuck!' he shouted, smacking the pavement beneath him with his fist._

_Willow ducked back next to him, taking a moment to reload her weapon. Daryl was mid reload, pulling the string back on his bow when he felt a cold barrel press against the back of his head._

_He felt Willow go stiff next to him and he knew they had been caught._

_'Don't fucking move!' A man shouted at them._

_He felt a brief, blinding pain at the back of his head._

_And everything went black._

"Merle's _your _blood. _My _blood, _my _family is standing right here and back at the prison," Glenn was angrily pleading with him. Daryl didn't know how long he had talked.

"And you're apart of that family," Rick said.

Daryl could feel himself wavering.

He needed to get out now.

"Fine," he grunted. "We'll fend for ourselves." Daryl looked from Maggie, to Glenn, then to Rick, "It's always been Merle and me before all of this." Everyone was quiet for a moment, and finally Daryl looked to Maggie again, "Say goodbye to your Pop' for me."

He shut out the yelling and beseeching behind him and focused on his feet. One in front of the other.

Left, now right.

Left, now right.

If he listened for too long, he would leave with them. And he couldn't do that.

He could feel Rick walking steadily behind him and as he passed the front car he looked at the ground.

She was passed out in the front passenger seat. He knew because he put here there.

_He put up as much of a fight as he could with his arms bound and a bag over his head, but it wasn't enough._

_He was being corralled somewhere, he couldn't see a goddamn thing. But there was shouting in the distance and it was steadily getting louder._

_He took a chance, 'Willow?', he shouted from underneath the bag._

_'Shut up,' a man told him and punched him in the gut._

_Daryl grunted and bent over slightly, but his guard didn't pause and he was forced to keep walking._

_The noise around him seemed to reach its crescendo, and the bag was ripped off his head._

Daryl lifted the hatchback of the SUV and grabbed his pack.

_Merle._

_The first thing he saw in that hell hole of an arena was his brother._

_He shrank back momentarily but regained his composure quickly, his eyes scanned the arena._

_He knew she was there. She had to be. His head whipped from side to side, desperately seeking her face-_

_There._

_At the feet of a Hispanic man, tied up, bloodied, and gagged, was Willow._

_Their eyes met and every word he had ever wanted to say to her died on his tongue._

_This is it._

_She'll never know._

Daryl glanced over the back seat to see that unmistakable dirty blonde hair resting against the back of the front passenger seat, a red rag wrapped securely around her head.

_Merle punched him in the face._

_He hadn't heard the conversation Merle had with the crowd, he was staring at Willow, but he got the gist of it._

_His back slammed into the turf beneath him and he stared up at Merle. He noticed his brothers lips where moving, Daryl had to focus hard to understand him._

_'Just follow my lead little brother,' he was saying._

_Daryl protested, if Merle thought they were just going to walk out of this alive then he was dumber than he had thought._

_Merle lifted him up and they immediately settled in to a familiar back to back fighting stance._

_They didn't have to fight long._

_Gunshots erupted in the arena, followed by a smoke grenade._

_Daryl knew it was Rick._

_'Willow!' he shouted, his brother momentarily forgotten. 'Willow!'_

_He ran in the general direction of where she had been last, he could barely see through the thick smoke._

_Daryl found her, nearly tripping over her unconscious form. She was laying on her side, a large gash open on her forehead._

_'Willow!' he hollered again, trying to rouse her._

_'We ain't got time for this, lil' brother!' Merle bitched at him and Daryl glared up at his brother._

_'Daryl,' his gaze snapped back down at her to see her eyes open and looking at him. 'Daryl,' she said again._

_'C'mon girl, gotta get up!' he said and helped her to get on his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and her legs around his middle._

He put his backpack on and adjusted it briefly before looking at Rick.

_They made it out-of-town quickly and Daryl set off into the woods with the small group, gripping Willow's thighs tightly to his sides. She had his bow hanging around her back, having handed it to her after he stole it back from some Woodbury asshole._

_As the sky lightened so did Willow's hold around his neck, and her head began to droop. He would feel it rest on his shoulder briefly before popping up again, she was fighting hard to stay awake._

_'C'mon girl,' he whispered loud enough for only her to hear, squeezing her thighs. 'Just a bit further.'_

_'Promise?' she asked, forcing the word out around chapped lips._

_'Promise,' he choked, and he felt her grip strengthen around his neck slightly._

_Willow's renewed strength only lasted for a few minutes however, and she gave up trying to hold her head up, resting it on his shoulder._

_Daryl felt blood began to seep through his shirt and he realized her head wound may be more severe than he first thought._

_'I'll get'ya back to Hershel,' he said, 'He'll fix you up good.'_

_Willow didn't reply and Daryl grunted in frustration. How far to the fucking car?_

'There has got to be another way,' Rick tried again.

_'WHAT IS HE DOING HERE?'_

_'HE TRIED TO KILL ME!'_

_The shouts were coming from all around him. And Merle's mouth was not helping._

_'Man, shut up!' he shouted at his brother as he continued to run his mouth._

_Finally Rick had enough and hit his brother over the head with the butt of his gun. Rick held Daryl's gaze before muttering, 'Asshole.'_

"Don't ask me to leave him, already did it once," he replied to Rick.

_They left Merle passed out in the woods. Daryl glanced back at his brother on the ground and made his way towards the SUV._

_He pulled the passenger side door open roughly and let his grip on Willow's thighs loosen. Daryl slide her small body around his, removed his bow from her back, and gently set her in the seat. He pulled her legs inside and quickly inspected the gash on her head. Daryl pulled the rag out of his back pocket and wrapped it around her head as tightly as he could, she didn't even flinch. Daryl shut the door quietly and walked towards Glenn, Rick and Maggie._

When Rick didn't reply Daryl nodded slowly, "Take care of yourself...Lil' Asskicker, and Carl...that's one tough kid."

"Daryl!" Rick called.

"Daryl!" Glenn yelled from his place next to Maggie.

Daryl began walking towards his brother but his feet faltered until he stopped completely. He sighed and glanced back to the front passenger seat of the car. Daryl turned and walked back to the car at a determined pace. He wrenched the door open and stared at Willow briefly, as if confirming all the small details about her that he had memorized long ago would make it easier to walk away. Slowly, scared to wake her, he leaned forward, threaded his right hand through the hair at the base of her neck and gently pressed his forehead against the uninjured side of hers. Daryl closed his eyes and breathed deep. Without opening his eyes he lifted his head and brushed his lips over her brow, listening to her steady breathing. Only a moment passed before he pulled away. Any longer, and he wouldn't be able to go.

Daryl closed the car door again, and gave one last look at Willow through the window before turning on his heel and quickly making his way to his waiting brother.

** A/N: Thanks to anyone who stuck with this to the end! I appreciate it.**


End file.
